Wireless & Internet Tech

CEDIA on Mobile-Friendly Networks

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CEDIA releases the 2nd white paper on the integration of mobile devices in residential systems-- Ten Steps to Creating a Robust Wireless Environment for Mobile Device Integration.

CEDIAAs customers depend more on IP networks and mobile device numbers grow, modern homes need increasing amounts of wireless bandwidth in order to keep all devices working and communicating at all times.

Thus the white paper provides installers with a 10-step roadmap to creating a profitable and repeatable wifi solution.

The paper combines with the advanced IP and networking courses the association offers at CEDIA EXPO, and is available from the CEDIA marketplace.

Go CEDIA Releases Ten Steps to Creating a Robust Wireless Environment for Mobile Device Integration

Wifi Hits "T-Ray" Milestone

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Japanese researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology smash the record for wireless data transmission over the "T-ray" band, achieving 3Gbps transfer over a 542GHz wireless connection.

TRay WifiThe data rate achieved is double the previous record from chip maker Rohm of 1.5Gbps transfers using a 300GHz connection. Such connections falls into the 300GHz-3THz band, known as the terahertz spectrum or simply "T-rays."

300GHz is 60x higher than the highest current wifi standard.

Tetraherz wifi has range limitations (around 10m) but supports data rates of up to 100Gb/s, nearly x15 higher than the next generation of 802.11ac wifi.

The Japanese researchers achieve such wifi speeds using a resonant tunneling diode (RTD), a 1mm-square device that "resonates" and transmits electro-magnetic signals at very high frequencies. Previous T-ray experiments required bulky, costly and power-hungry equipment with science fiction-esque names like "quantum cascade lasers."

Project leader Dr. Safumi Suzuki is confident tetraherz communications are ripe for consumerisation-- he believes "everybody will use products related to THz technology within the next decade."

Go Intense Resonance Paper (IET Electronics Letters)

Go Milestone for Wifi with T-Rays (BBC)

Wifi Gets Fourth Revision

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IEEE publishes the latest revision of the 802.11 wifi standard, IEEE 802.11-2012-- with revisions promising improved connections, greater security and smoother handoffs between wifi and mobile networks.

IEEE wifiThe 4th revision since 1997, 802.11-2012 consolidates the 10 amendments to the base standards approved in the 2007 revision. These include 802.11n (defines MAC and PHY modifications to enable throughputs of up to 600MB/s), direct-link setup, "fast roam," radio resource measurement, operation in the 3650-3700MHz band, vehicular environments, mesh networking, security, broadcast/multicast and unicast data delivery, interworking with external networks and network management.

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EC Consultation on Internet of Things

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The European Commission (EC) opens a consultation process on regulations regarding wireless connected devices and the internet of things, as part the Digital Agenda for Europe.

internet of thingsApparently the EC wants to start working on the framework required to "unlock the economic and societal benefits of the internet of things," together with control on the gathering, processing and storage of data by devices.

According the commission the average citizen owns at least 2 internet-connected devices-- a figure to reach 7 by 2015. The commission also says the global number of wirelessly connected devices will double to 50 billion by 2020.

The consultation seeks opinions on privacy, safety and security, security of critical IoT supported infrastructure, ethics, interoperability, governance and standards. One can participate by clicking the link below.

Go Digital Agenda Internet of Things Consultation

Intel Integrates Wifi in Processors

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Intel shows off a breakthrough in making faster and more energy efficient wifi-- integrating a 2.4GHz wifi radio and a dual-core Atom processor on the same chip, codenamed "Rosepoint."

RosepointThe chip was seen at the 2012 IEEE Solid-State Cicuits Conference (ISSCC), San Francisco.

The wifi radio inside Rosepoint is digital RF, and uses only 2 voltage levels. The chip itself is built using a 32nm process, and Intel tells Wired Magazine it brings Moore's Law to the world of RF and radio circuits.

The integrated wifi technology will not hit the market until a few years, and Intel is already working on a version carrying a cellular radio and a built-in antenna. Such technology can result in the more energy efficient internet-connected devices of the future.

Wireless radio and CPUs do not make ideal partners-- radiation from a CPU corrupts data the RF module is receiving, while radio waves mess with microprocessors. The wifi radio and the Atom processor also happen to operate using similar frequencies, demanding the use of noise cancelling and radiation-shielding.

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